May 8 Filing Deadline for OSB Board
of Governors in Regions 5 and 6The Oregon State Bar is currently
seeking candidates for the Board of Governors. There are three board
positions open to active bar members, two in region 5 and one in region
6. The Board consists of 16 members — 12 active members and four
public members. The election will be held Oct. 15, 2007. Board terms
are for four years and begin Jan. 1, 2008. Region 5 encompasses Multnomah
county and Region 6 encompasses Clackamas, Marion, Polk, and Yamhill
counties.

The board has five regular meetings a year, on a Friday
and the following Saturday morning. Nearly half of the meetings are in
the Portland area and the remainder at locations around the state. The
board’s committee meetings are held three to four weeks prior to
regular board meetings in the Portland area. Board of Governor members
serve as liaisons to the Professional Liability Fund, bar sections and
committees, and numerous other groups and activities. Minority attorneys
and women are encouraged to run for a position on the board.

For more information or to print a copy of the candidates
statement and nominating petition, go to www.osbar.org and select
Forms Library, or contact Danielle Edwards at (503) 620-0222 or toll-free
in Oregon at (800) 452-8260, ext. 426.

Carson Judicial Excellence Award
Luncheon Set for May 31In recognition of his exemplary contributions
to Oregon’s
judiciary, the Oregon State Bar has created the Wallace P.
Carson Jr. Judicial Excellence Award. Justice Carson is greatly admired
and respected for his professionalism, integrity, commitment and judicial
independence.

All bar members are invited to join in honoring Justice
Carson at the special inaugural awards ceremony to be held Thursday,
May 31, at noon, in the Heritage Ballroom of The Governor Hotel in Portland.
Tickets are $30 per person. Reserved tables for 10 are available.

More information and a registration form are available
at www.osbar.org.

CourtCare’s 4th Annual Fundraising
Campaign ApproachesEvery day, small children play in the safety of CourtCare
instead of witnessing adult conflict and other traumatic
scenes in the courtrooms and hallways of the Multnomah County Courthouse.
CourtCare provides free drop-in child care for young children of parents
using the courthouse. Commonly, the parents are dealing with domestic abuse
restraining orders, divorce or child custody issues, or evictions. CourtCare
protects children from those situations, eases courtroom proceedings, and
enhances access to
justice.

CourtCare is located in a converted jury room in the Multnomah
County Courthouse. The facility is operated by state-certified staff
of the Volunteers of American Oregon. Space and budget limitations keep
CourtCare from serving all of those in need, but it has cared for more
than 5,000 children since opening its doors in December 2001.

CourtCare receives some public funding, but it depends
primarily on private contributions from the legal community. Last year,
nearly 1,000 people gave to CourtCare. Without the financial support
of lawyers, legal assistants, judges, courthouse staff and other members
of the legal community, its doors would close.

The "Jungle Gym in the Jungle" fundraising campaign
will be held May 1-22 this year. For more information about CourtCare
and this year’s campaign, contact the campaign co-chairs, Susan
Marmaduke at susan.marmaduke@harrang.com or Marshall Spector at
mspector@gevurtzmenashe.com. Information is also avaialbe at the website
of the Multnomah Bar Association, www.mbabar.org.

Judge Mary Deits, former chief judge of the Oregon Court
of Appeals, received the Justice Betty Roberts Award for the promotion
of women in the law. Justice Wallace P. Carson Jr., former chief justice
of the Oregon Supreme Court, received the Judge Mercedes Deiz Award for
promotion of minorities in the law. The 15th annual event was held March
9 at the Governor Hotel in Portland.

Deits has served not only as one of Oregon’s first
women appellate judges, but also as a respected role-model, adviser and
friend to many of Oregon’s best women lawyers. She was only the
second woman to serve as a judge on the Oregon Court of Appeals, after
Justice Betty Roberts herself. Once on the Court of Appeals, Deits earned
the respect of her peers and became the only woman to serve as Chief
Judge of that court. She also earned the position of President of the
national Chief Judges Association. As Chief Judge of the Court of Appeals,
she instituted many innovative programs that helped make our court a
national leader on many fronts, including the appellate mediation program
and the school outreach program, which provides school-aged students
an opportunity to see women lawyers and judges in action.

Justice Carson is credited with being a quiet, yet constant,
presence in the lives and careers of many minority attorneys and law
students. For the last five years, Justice Carson has responded faithfully
to the calls for assistance of the Oregon State Bar Affirmative Action
Program’s Opportunities for Law in Oregon (OLIO), attending an
annual orientation for law students in Central Oregon. He also frequently
lends his support and presence to events organized by the Oregon Minority
Lawyers Association (OMLA). During the reauthorization of the Affirmative
Action Program earlier this year, Justice Carson’s presence brought
a sense of strength to OMLA leaders and members working to ensure the
future of the program. His personal commitment and assistance with funding
has played a pivotal role in the success of Oregon’s Access to
Justice Committee.